Current United States Army tactics are to utilize anti-vehicular landmines during military operations to limit the enemy's ability to maneuver on the battlefield. Anti-personnel landmines emplaced among the anti-vehicular landmines are used solely to inhibit the enemy in their ability to clear the anti-vehicular landmines.
In an effort to end the risk to noncombatants from unexploded landmines, the United States developed anti-personnel landmines (APLs) and anti-vehicle landmines (AVLs) that self-destruct and self-deactivate with a high degree of reliability.
The current United States landmine policy stems from its obligations under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (COW) and Amended Protocol II of the CCW and a desire to mitigate civilian casualties caused by landmines. This policy seeks to strike a balance between maintaining the ability to use landmines in future military conflicts and addressing the humanitarian concerns raised by persistent landmines.
The United States has been assessing the effects of the Ottawa Convention on its landmine policy. The Ottawa Convention bans the manufacture and use of all anti-personnel landmines, which it defines as “a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.” The convention, however, does not apply to anti-vehicle landmines.
Membership in the Ottawa Convention would obligate the United States to cease the manufacture and use of all anti-personnel landmines regardless of circumstances. The entire United States stockpile of anti-personnel landmines would be banned, regardless of whether they are detectable, self-destructing, self-deactivating, or deployable pursuant to the requirements of Amended Protocol II.
As a result, the United States would rely purely on anti-vehicle landmines for military fields operations. However, anti-vehicle landmines can be cleared by personnel or de-miners who will no longer be deterred by the presence of anti-personnel landmines.
There is therefore a need for a system for use as an integral part of anti-vehicle landmines/munitions or as a standalone device that deters enemy de-mining efforts. This system should pose no risk to non-combatants yet still prevent de-miners from having free movement within the anti-vehicle landmine/munition field. This in turn would mitigate the ability to de-mine the anti-vehicle munitions within the field. The need for such a system has heretofore remained unsatisfied.